Bhopal, July 8 : In a significant development, a Maoist carrying a bounty of Rs 14 lakh was killed during an encounter with security forces in Madhya Pradesh's Balaghat, while the search for others is underway, police said on Monday.

The encounter took place under the Hatta police station when the security forces (Hawk force of MP Police) were carrying out a search operation on the basis of input received regarding the presence of Maoists in the region.

During a search operation, security forces noticed a group of people dressed in white clothes were trying to hide themselves. When the security forces tried to stop them, they started firing and ran away.

The deceased Maoist has been identified as Ukas alias Sohan (30), a resident of the Maoist-hit Sukma district in the neighbouring state of Chhattisgarh. He has been carrying out Maoist activities in the Bhoramdev region for the last several years.

Additional Director General (ADG) of Police Jaydeep Prasad said that an alert has already been issued as input was received about the presence of some more Maoists who are planning for a big attack on security forces and the search operations are being carried out.

"The dead Maoist (Sohan) has been carrying out Maoist activities since 2013 in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra. He was an expert in operating explosive devices to attack security personnel. He was wanted in Madhya Pradesh since 2019 and a reward of Rs 14 lakh was announced against him since then," Prasad said in a press conference here in Bhopal.

Prasad added that the gunning down of wanted Sohan came as a major breakthrough for Madhya Pradesh Police. 'MP Police have killed more than 20 Maoists carrying a bounty of more than 3.5 crore in the past two years, including two hardcore Maoists in April this year,' he added.

/IANS